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How was the 20 minutes? Did you analyse his every move? Tell me about him.

here you go mate

http://livefootballvideo.com/fullmatch/ ... m-united-2

Not really good in analysis but you can watch the complete match there (almost all city matches)

He was confident, occasional good touches but lost out ball on an occasion when more physical player was onto him. Good back heel for Kolorov from between the legs of West Ham player for the assist. Did not get enough of the ball really to come to any decisive conclusion other than he is more fit than Jovetic

he is more fit than Jovetic


haha, well that's a start isn't it?

He looked up for it.Made himself available to recieve the ball as often as he could.The back heel was quality.He got sight of goal but a soft effort trickled wide.Looks up for it and he's faster than Garcia.

Apart from the back heal he did look a bit like a headless chicken last night. But he's still very young, and it was one of his first time with the big boys - you could clearly see that he wasn't used to the pace, and that he was a bit over enthusiastic. I hope the Count will give him more chances, so that he can learn from his team mates.

The best thing for him will be lots of 15/20 minute spells for the rest of the season - help him get used to the speed and physicality and then next season he can hopefully push for some starts.

A good prospect

Nickyboy wrote:The best thing for him will be lots of 15/20 minute spells for the rest of the season - help him get used to the speed and physicality and then next season he can hopefully push for some starts.

A good prospect

I'm unsure whether it would be better for him to stay here this season and have a few more 15-20 minute stints and maybe start 1 or 2 cup games or if he should be loaned out to a championship or lower table premier league side to get used to the physicality of senior football. Clearly a talented player and that backheel was lovely.

Should start in the return leg, and plenty of subs appearances.

I think if he's getting playing time at City a loan move shouldn't be entertained.

Over excited & made pretty much all the wrong decisions, passing when he should run/shoot, running/shooting when he should pass etc, & playing generally like he was English, but of course he then nutmegged a bloke with a backheel.

Nobody else has done anything better.

his shorts were too big for him....

Ted Hughes wrote:Over excited & made pretty much all the wrong decisions, passing when he should run/shoot, running/shooting when he should pass etc, & playing generally like he was English, but of course he then nutmegged a bloke with a backheel.

Nobody else has done anything better.

You know he has real quality Ted but last night also showed how young he is and how he will take time to take to playing at the top level.There was a scaredness about his brief performance as shown when he had the ball nicked off him when he dallied wondering what to do.Then later on came the backheel to show a level of confidence and ability.

He needs as many opportunities as possible from the bench to make him feel more a part of the set up and gradually we will see a quality player for the future but he is not one of those to come blazing onto the scene.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Over excited & made pretty much all the wrong decisions, passing when he should run/shoot, running/shooting when he should pass etc, & playing generally like he was English, but of course he then nutmegged a bloke with a backheel.

Nobody else has done anything better.

You know he has real quality Ted but last night also showed how young he is and how he will take time to take to playing at the top level.There was a scaredness about his brief performance as shown when he had the ball nicked off him when he dallied wondering what to do.Then later on came the backheel to show a level of confidence and ability.

He needs as many opportunities as possible from the bench to make him feel more a part of the set up and gradually we will see a quality player for the future but he is not one of those to come blazing onto the scene.

It's been a while since he played in a first team game, mainly due to unfortunate injuries of course, & this was a Semi Final, live on TV.

If we keep him involved, I think he will start to find his feet & quickly become a viable asset initially as an impact player short term.

There are so many players who could potentially do that, over the coming seasons, but one I would like to see just thrown on in a game like last night, is Brandon Barker. I know he's young, inexperienced & behind plenty in the pecking order, but I recon he could scare the bejesus out of a tired Prem League fullback & Dzeko/Negredo would love him.

Ted Hughes wrote:

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Over excited & made pretty much all the wrong decisions, passing when he should run/shoot, running/shooting when he should pass etc, & playing generally like he was English, but of course he then nutmegged a bloke with a backheel.

Nobody else has done anything better.

You know he has real quality Ted but last night also showed how young he is and how he will take time to take to playing at the top level.There was a scaredness about his brief performance as shown when he had the ball nicked off him when he dallied wondering what to do.Then later on came the backheel to show a level of confidence and ability.

He needs as many opportunities as possible from the bench to make him feel more a part of the set up and gradually we will see a quality player for the future but he is not one of those to come blazing onto the scene.

It's been a while since he played in a first team game, mainly due to unfortunate injuries of course, & this was a Semi Final, live on TV.

If we keep him involved, I think he will start to find his feet & quickly become a viable asset initially as an impact player short term.

There are so many players who could potentially do that, over the coming seasons, but one I would like to see just thrown on in a game like last night, is Brandon Barker. I know he's young, inexperienced & behind plenty in the pecking order, but I recon he could scare the bejesus out of a tired Prem League fullback & Dzeko/Negredo would love him.

Ted Hughes wrote:

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Over excited & made pretty much all the wrong decisions, passing when he should run/shoot, running/shooting when he should pass etc, & playing generally like he was English, but of course he then nutmegged a bloke with a backheel.

Nobody else has done anything better.

You know he has real quality Ted but last night also showed how young he is and how he will take time to take to playing at the top level.There was a scaredness about his brief performance as shown when he had the ball nicked off him when he dallied wondering what to do.Then later on came the backheel to show a level of confidence and ability.

He needs as many opportunities as possible from the bench to make him feel more a part of the set up and gradually we will see a quality player for the future but he is not one of those to come blazing onto the scene.

It's been a while since he played in a first team game, mainly due to unfortunate injuries of course, & this was a Semi Final, live on TV.

If we keep him involved, I think he will start to find his feet & quickly become a viable asset initially as an impact player short term.

There are so many players who could potentially do that, over the coming seasons, but one I would like to see just thrown on in a game like last night, is Brandon Barker. I know he's young, inexperienced & behind plenty in the pecking order, but I recon he could scare the bejesus out of a tired Prem League fullback & Dzeko/Negredo would love him.

Interesting choice Ted. He does have talent but I would worry what that would do to his head! There is already an inbuilt confidence (good) which would grow massively (maybe not good).But that's where I would trust Vieira to keep his feet on the ground.Overall though I would say no to Brandon just yet.

I think he's smaller than Silva, bags of potential but at some point he needs the games to realise it.

I loved watching Lopes last night. The game was over and he wanted the ball as much as possible, it was like watching soccer AM when the fans of the week are watching the clock countdown and they need to get in as many shots as possible. He just wanted as many touches in his brief spell. Youthful exuberance and completely understandable. if it was 1-0 I think we would have seen a more composed and structured approach play from him.

Good on him, as others have said, now he is fit, lets give the lad some game time and bring him in gradually, he certainly has the talent.

His back heel to Kolorov was a bit fortunate. It came off in the end but it wasn't where he was intending it to go. Tricky for the kid coming in to a game at the stage it was at and with the score what it was. He didn't hide, which is promising, but key moments didn't come off for him.

Strength - brushed off the ball on the flank too easily.
Passing - rushed passes to opposition. Did simple things OK.
Running - had a chance to break through and use pace and skill to get into a good position but over ran it.
Shooting - weak effort.

As someone said he won't come onto the scene like Rooney did but could be developed into a tidy Silva like player by Vieira. Unlikely to lose hair like Rooney given his latin stock and, fingers crossed, will keep to the under 60's penetration wise.

I don't understand, beehive. Where else would he have been intending his backheel to go but to Kolarov?

Tokyo Blue wrote:I don't understand, beehive. Where else would he have been intending his backheel to go but to Kolarov?

If you look at the angle and the way he backheeled it I don't think he meant to get it through the defenders legs. I do like a back heel myself and the odd cheeky flick and Lopes's just did not look 100% accurate in my eyes. Fair do's to the lad for trying and I'm glad it came off but as a conosieur of a backheel it was only a 7/10 for me!!

beehive's dodgy pint wrote:

Tokyo Blue wrote:I don't understand, beehive. Where else would he have been intending his backheel to go but to Kolarov?

If you look at the angle and the way he backheeled it I don't think he meant to get it through the defenders legs. I do like a back heel myself and the odd cheeky flick and Lopes's just did not look 100% accurate in my eyes. Fair do's to the lad for trying and I'm glad it came off but as a conosieur of a backheel it was only a 7/10 for me!!

I would say it was one of the most intentional & precise backheels I've ever seen. It can't be proven that he meant it to go through the bloke's legs, but it's very very obvious he meant it to go to Kolarov; he clearly sees Kolarov making the run, knows exactly where he is going, puts the ball perfectly in his path & follows it with his eyes as it happens.

I'm 90% the nutmeg is deliberate as well, because Lopez looks over his shoulder to see the direction the defender is moving, before the ball arrives, so he knows where the bloke will be.

Of course it's possible the ball can hit the defender, but he tried it & it worked & it was, without question, absolutlely fucking brilliant.

A back heel on his debut that came off in a team of players so good was special On a special night for MCFC. The days of raw energy from a kid making an appearance have gone, Perfect for the lad and the fans.